In celebration of its 20th anniversary, A|X Armani Exchange is launching the A|X STYLEPAD, a new create-your-own ad application available exclusively on iTunes. The A|X STYLEPAD gives iphone and iPad users creative control to design their own A|X campaign, selecting a background, casting a model, and adding a personalized message to create a one-of-a-kind ad to save or share with friends on social networks like Facebook.

Tickets are on sale now for the 5th Annual Thaw Fashion show! Featuring Danial Webster Designs, DVIT Swimwear, J Von Stratton, Like a Rock Star and Mark Mitchell the show promises to be a night filled with fashion. A special set featuring designs by the winners of the Seattle Magazine Seamless in Seattle contest will also grace the runway. The event to benefit Huntington's Disease will also include a silent auction component as well as a Thaw shop where designer wares will be for sale. 100% of the proceeds from the Thaw shop will benefit the Huntington's Disease Society of America. Sponsors include Bowie Salon and Spa, Caffe Vita, Heffner Management, Julep Nail Parlor, Seattle Magazine and vitaminwater zero.

Queen Anne recently welcomed a new boutique! Charley + May is located on Queen Anne Ave. next door to Nancy's Sewing basket and is destined to be your new favorite store for form, function and fun. Shop owner Lauren Formicola (known to many through her work as a publicist at PR Matters) describes her store as a "gift gallery celebrating modern design for you and your home." She stocks home interior items including stylish vases, clocks, mirrors, wall art and candles, plus fashion items including jewelry, timepieces, wallets, iPad accessories, handbags, and more. The selection is constantly changing so you'll want to check back frequently to discover your new favorite things!

Your wedding dress is the most important dress you'll ever wear, so it needs to be a dress you absolutely love. For brides on a budget David's Bridal can help you get the look for less without sacrificing style. I'm loving this satin faced organza gown with hand-appliqued lace (pictured below). This dress actually converts into a strapless dress when the illusion piece worn under the bodice is removed. Customized your gown by adding an oversized ribbon to match your wedding party colors.

If you're planning a fairy tale wedding and want something a bit more dramatic you might want to consider upping the ante on your dress with something like the taffeta ball gown shown below. This gown features a cascade of floral appliques that form a breathtakingly beautiful skirt featuring a chapel-style train.

Or maybe it's not the style of the dress but the color that you want to deviate from this season. This beautiful organza gown (shown below) has traditional styling but comes in a blush color that looks modern and warm.

If you're petite like me and want to wear a short dress for the ceremony there are many wedding dresses by David's Bridal to choose from. Whether you're going for short or tea length, or something in between there's an option for everyone for every style of wedding.

But just because you prefer a long gown doesn't mean it needs to be boring and traditional. The gown featured below has a lace overlay and a giant bow on the back making it perfect for the bride who wants to be proper but maybe not prim.

Shopping for wedding gowns can be quite a daunting process but once you have a good idea of what you're looking for (style, color, silhouette) it can actually be a lot of fun. Bring your best girlfriend along to share the experience with you and most importantly, enjoy the moment. You're getting married!

On Saturday, April 16th the West Seattle Junction is hosting a tax-free shopping day to help ease the bite from Mr. Taxman. Shoppers will save 9.5% when merchants pay their sales tax. 37 merchants in the West Seattle Junction neighborhood will be sporting a red balloon outside their business alerting customers that they’re offering all-day tax-free shopping, as well as deep discounts on a wide range of goods and services.

In celebration of the upcoming Royal Wedding, butter LONDON recently unveiled 'No More Waity, Katie', a limited-edition nail lacquer. Designed by Founding Creative Director, Nonie Creme, this exclusive color transforms nails with the perfect amount of sparkle for a royal touch. No More Waity, Katie is a soft, elegant greige shade with a splash of lilac glitter for the perfect marriage to combine fashion and fun. Click here to purchase online.

This month one of our favorite Eastside boutiques, Promesse, is celebrating their 6th year anniversary! To celebrate they're hosting a Cynthia Rowley trunk show on Wednesday, March 30th from 6-8pm. Cynthia Rowley is known for her flirty, vibrantly colored dresses and sold her first collection to upscale boutiques in New York when she was just a senior at the Art Institute of Chicago. Since then, she has appeared on Oprah and has had her designs grace the pages of major fashion magazines including Vogue. Come check out her spring line! 10% of proceeds from the event will benefit the Japan earthquake relief effort.

It's raining this weekend in Seattle, but inside Spring Cleaning is well underway! Simple updates can have a major impact on how your house/apartment looks and feels. Here are 5 fashionable items you need for your home right now.

Don't underestimate the power of mood lighting and what it can do for a room. A luxe chandalier doesn't need to be extravagant (or even real crystal) to have a major impact. This Bellagio 15 chandelier by Next would be perfect in a serene but sophisticated bedroom or anywhere in your house that could use a little sparkle and shine. Soften the scene by pairing with a dimmer.

I don't claim to be the hostess with the mostess- but hey, when people come over I do like to wine and dine them in style. And let's be honest, sometimes the food doesn't even need to taste that good as long as it looks good, right? I'm in love with these glass pedestal stands with dome from The Pottery Barn ($14). These would be great for a dessert presentation or even a special selection of cheese.

The Big Finish....

I think about outfits as finished works of art. How about a linen dress form for the corner of your room to properly put together outfits the night before a big event? This form is available in sizes 4-16 and has a pedal base. While working as a stylist this form would have been the PERFECT way to put together outfits and document them with a polaroid picture for future reference. At $300 from Urban Outfitters this item is a bit of a splurge- but so worth it when you think about all the creative ways you can use it!

Spa Scotta is now carrying the ENTIRE LINE of Love + Toast. Seriously the best hand creams, lotions, shampoos, conditions, perfumes, body washes, sugar scrubs, lip glosses, and more. Try it once and you'll be obsessed.

The Honey Coconut is my favorite scent and makes me reminisce of summer vacations on tropical islands. The hand cremes are completely Vegan and contain no Parabens, Phthalates or artificial colors- plus, all the adorable packaging is recyclable and made from 100% renewable resources.

The entire line smells amazing and price points start at just $9. Love + Toast is a cult favorite within the beauty circuit. Find out why by stopping in at Spa Scotta to check it out for yourself.

If you haven't ventured to Queen Anne's newest boutique, Meadow, you're seriously missing out. The adorable store is tucked on the corner of Sixth and W. Crockett street and never disappoints when it comes to must-have apparel, accessories and home furnishings. Prices are reasonable and there's something for everyone.

Take a look at some of the styles in store now!

Happy Shopping- and don't forget to check out the Meadow boutique blog!

The fashion industry prides itself on moving quickly, but it will have to move even faster if it’s going to keep pace with the rapid demands of the e- commerce world. In 2010 retail E-Commerce was up 10% reaching sales of $142 billionand that number will continue to rise as consumers continue to embrace fast fashion. Join Fashion Group International for an interactive panel discussion on retail, e- commerce and how it is changing the fashion industry. Topics of discussion will include mobile commerce trends, effective social media strategies, market research in the digital world, technology trends seen at New York Fashion Week and more. Panelists include Manfred Bluemel, Founder of Zeitgeist Research, Kyle Vucko, CEO of Indochino, Corinne Cavanaugh, Founder of Free Seattle Socially, Russ Blain, President and CEO of Bag, Borrow or Steal, Helen Stauffer, Director of E-Commerce & Merchandising at Eddie Bauer, and Seattle Stylist Hope Misterek. Lucky Magazines will be given out to the first 30 guests featuring a special SEATTLE City Shopping Guide. Space is limited so get your ticket now! For event updates follow Seattle FGI on Twitter @seattlefgi.

Model Christy Turlington is heading to Seattle for the No Woman, No Cry screening on Wednesday, March 16th at the Cinerama. No Woman, No Cry is a compelling documentary film that shares the stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world. These four locations, a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum in Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States, highlight the many barriers that delay quality maternal health care. Through this documentary, Christy Turlington Burns hopes to elevate awareness around the issue, create a mainstream maternal health movement. To learn more, visit Every Mother Counts.

From fashion icon to activist, Christy Turlington Burns has created a diverse and multi-talented career as an entrepreneur, role model and spokesperson in the cosmetic, fashion, health, business and humanitarian spheres. Today she is actively focusing on Maternal and Child Health, as a student in the Masters of Public Health program at Columbia University's Mailman School and as the Founder of Every Mother Counts. Since 2005, she has served as CARE advocate for Maternal Health, with whom she has traveled to El Salvador, Peru, and Ethiopia and to Bangladesh, Guatemala and Tanzania for the making of her documentary.

Following the exclusive film screening of No Woman, No Cry, Christy Turlington Burns will be joined by the following special guests for a panel discussion and moderated Q&A session. Panelists included in the conversation include Lisa Cohen, MA (Panel Moderator) who serves as the Executive Director of the Washington Global Health Alliance (WGHA), Gary Darmstadt, MD, the Director of Family Health in the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Christopher J. Elias, MD, MPH, President and CEO of PATH, an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization based in Seattle, Washington, and Craig Rubens, MD, PhD, Founder and Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Prevention of Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS)—an initiative of Seattle Children's Hospital established to unravel the mysteries surrounding preterm birth and stillbirth.

To launch the new spring collection, Seattle-based clothing line UNIONBAY is running a fun and interactive gifting contest on Facebook where fans can gift virtual spring UNIONBAY items to friends and gain a point for each gift sent. The top gift giver wins a real UNIONBAY gift. All you need to get started is to "Like" the Unionbay fan page on Facebook and check out the "Spring Fun" tab.

The spring collection combines the street style heritage of UNIONBAY we all know and love with on trend designs for fashion loving teens. Click here to shop now.

Join Fashion Group International for an interactive panel discussion on trends in the fashion world of e-commerce. Hear from industry experts on how e-commerce is changing the way consumers access high fashion apparel, learn how effective social media strategies can influence online sales, listen as a top Seattle stylist reflects on how technology is changing the scene at NY Fashion Week, and hear about exciting new mobile commerce trends. Panelists include Manfred Bluemel of Zeitgeist Research, Kyle Vucko of Indochino, Corinne Cavanaugh of Free Seattle Socially, Russ Blaine of Bag, Borrow or Steal, Helen Stauffer of Eddie Bauer, and Seattle Stylist Hope Misterek. Lucky Magazines will be given out to the first 30 guests featuring a special SEATTLE City Shopping Guide!

Meet Sydney

Sydney Mintle is a fashion blogger based in Seattle. She began writing about the local shopping scene back in 2008 and has been sharing her love of indie designers and boutiques with readers all over the world ever since.